China, wary of Arab Spring, hosts Morsi

2012-08-29 09:06

Beijing - Egypt's newly elected president met with China's future leader on Wednesday on the second day of a visit that seeks to deepen economic and diplomatic ties despite Beijing's uneasiness with the Arab Spring revolution that helped bring him to power.

President Mohammed Morsi hopes his trip will bring trade and investment to shore up his country's flagging economy.

On Tuesday, China pledged $200m in credit for the National Bank of Egypt, with the sides also signing agreements on agriculture, telecommunications, the environment and other areas.

"It is hoped this visit will further increase our mutual understanding and trust, promote greater co-operation and exchanges between our two countries, bring new vitality to bilateral relations and open a new chapter in friendly contacts," said Xi, who is due to take over as president next spring in a transition of power to a younger generation.

Morsi responded by terming Egyptian-Chinese ties as a "strategic relationship" he hoped to enhance with his meetings in Beijing.

Foreign policy away from US focus

Morsi, an Islamist who took office in June as Egypt's first freely elected civilian president, met on Tuesday with President Hu Jintao.

It is Morsi's first state visit outside the Middle East and Africa since becoming president, underscoring China's importance as one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council and as a vital source of trade and investment.

The visit is also seen as part of a reorientation of Egyptian foreign policy away from a heavy focus on the US.

Morsi was preceded to Beijing by a delegation of 80 Egyptian business leaders who planned to discuss investment projects with 200 Chinese counterparts.

The trip is also a chance for the countries to rebuild their relations in the wake of the popular uprising last year that drove longtime President Hosni Mubarak from power, paving the way for democracy and Morsi's election.

China's authoritarian one-party government was decidedly cool toward that movement, criticising what Chinese state media derided as thuggish "street democracy".

Syria on the agenda

Beijing bitterly condemned the Nato air campaign that brought down dictator Muammar Gaddafi in neighbouring Libya and continues to join with Russia in blocking UN Security Council actions to force Syrian President Bashar Assad from power.

Tuesday's talks touched on the Syrian crisis and both countries are opposed to a military intervention, said Egyptian presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali. "I presume that there is an understanding from both sides that we have to work together to stop the bleeding in Syria's streets, and the other understanding also regarding the military [intervention] in Syrian scene is not accepted by both countries," he said in English.

Long a bystander in Middle Eastern politics, China has become increasingly active, driven by its need for oil and gas, and its economic importance to the region has ballooned amid Europe's economic woes and the sluggish US recovery.

Egypt's economy has been battered by the global economic slowdown and 18 months of political instability, and Morsi is under heavy pressure to attract tourists and investment to put Egyptians back to work.

That has forced the country to seek billions of dollars in assistance from the International Monetary Fund and raised the possibility of a cut in subsidies that keep commodities like fuel and bread cheap for a population of about 82 million, 40% of whom live near or below the poverty line.

Suez development zone

Chinese tourists are increasingly travelling farther afield to more exotic locales such as Egypt, while Chinese companies have invested in Egyptian manufacturing and infrastructure, having poured an estimated $500m into the country.

Tourism is an area Hu and Morsi identified for co-operation, and the Chinese president also pledged support for a Suez development zone, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Morsi leaves Beijing on Thursday to attend the world gathering of self-described nonaligned nations in Iran, the first visit to that country by an Egyptian head of state since relations between them were severed in 1979.

Comments

fidel.mgoqi - 2012-08-29 09:26

One thing I know is that the Chinese will do business with you, but they will not interfere in your domestic, political, social and personal lives.
Well done China! Long may you grow and prosper!

fred.fraser.12 - 2012-08-29 15:47

Unfortunately China's responsibility is extremely low when it comes to human rights and world affairs.
It has the worst human rights record of any country on Earth.
It is highly oppressive, run by an unelected politburo.
You believe Nelson Mandela is a phony, a lackey of the West.
It's no surprise to me then that you ululate the Chinese regime.

phathuchicos - 2012-08-29 09:43

The only way Africa will be able to get rid of its horse-wagon(Europe and US) that's now dragging it backwards with the recession is through China, India and Latin America as business and social partners... Right move Egypt.

fred.fraser.12 - 2012-08-29 15:43

China almost exclusively extracts raw materials from Africa. I thought you were against this.
Moreover, I'm not clear why you think European and US trade with Africa is negative for the continent. Combined, it dwarfs China-Africa trade.
And if it was done away with, which you seem to be suggesting, would be in the most desperate of situations.
Is this what you want?